A corporate perspective

I didn’t know the Earned Income Credit was a Republican initiative. It seems incongruous with the anti-entitlement rhetoric we hear so much about these days, but it makes perfect sense from the corporate point of view. A lot of entitlements make perfect sense from the corporate point of view.

If they can put a person on the ground at minimum wage with less than full-time hours, they have more capital to invest. The working poor who seem to feel entitled to food, shelter and a doctor if they need one, can look elsewhere for subsistence. They can look to the Welfare State to make up the shortfall. So far, it has worked pretty well.

There seems to be no end to the social services that support the employees of Corporate America at both the state and federal levels. There are housing subsidies, food stamps, Medicaid and daycare grants – if you’re lucky. These “entitlements” that drain our public coffers enable the “real money people” to talk billion dollar deals. It’s wonderful!

But to be fair, the working poor are guaranteed at least a minimum subsistence allowance. Corporate America generously supports an Earned Income Credit—paid for by you and me.Their money is used to invest in our future.